IBM Introduces Smart Surveillance System

Story link: IBM Introduces Smart Surveillance System by Brian Turner

IBM has announced that its Smart Surveillance System (S3) is now ready for the mainstream market.

S3, which is available in conjunction with IBM’s digital video surveillance services, can analyse real-time video while it is being digitally recorded and stored over an IP network. Video stored both online and offline can also be retroactively searched for certain characteristics.

According to Charles Palmer, chief technology officer of Security and Privacy, IBM Research, the system is being used by Governments and law enforcement agencies as well as businesses and airports.

S3 has many possible applications; it can be used to identify empty parking spaces and has been tested in the self-checkout line of a grocery store to identify different types of fruit and their corresponding prices. It has also been used to identify customers who walked into a store entrance without a package, but then approached the returns desk with a package.

IBM is in discussions regarding the possibility of an S3 system being used to monitor parts of the US-Mexico border.

The system includes some privacy features. Sensitive images such as people’s faces and number-plates can be redacted with a black box or blur. The redaction takes place when the video goes to an IP network to be stored. The video can then only be unredacted by an authorised person.